The University men’s water polo team continued their season in the Mountain Pacific Invitational at the University of California Berkeley during this past weekend, Sept. 24-25. The Tigers played four close games — winning one and dropping the other three in close heartbreakers.
Princeton entered the Invitational on a high point, having jumped to ninth place nationally after a string of successful matches. The Tigers, though relatively lacking in experience, have risen in the rankings thanks to a potent combination of aggressive offense and one of the strongest goalkeepers in the sport, junior All-American Vojislav Mitrovic. As the Tigers begin warming up for regular conference play and the potential for another postseason NCAA tournament run, they hope that extensive play against some of the nation's top teams will help mold this year's talented squad into yet another formidable national contender. As Jordan Colina, junior attacker, notes, "We have not played too many games yet with this group of players, so finding a way to gel and play together is something that we need to look to improve on."
The Tigers opened play against the strong, sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara team (UCSB was defeated only by second-ranked University of Southern California). Both teams fought doggedly in the pool, with the score tied at 5-5 by the third quarter. With four and a half minutes left on the clock, UC Santa Barbara’s Tor Jensen had seemed to decisively settle the game by giving the Gauchos an 11-8 lead. Improbably, the Tigers went on a furious 3-0 run, the only such run of the game for either side, to force the game into overtime, with sophomore driver Matt Payne scoring two of his four total goals and senior utility Jovan Jeremic scoring the tying goal. After two scoreless overtimes, heartbreak struck the Tigers, as a single golden goal from UC Santa Barbara's Boris Jovanovic handed them the 12-11 victory.
Princeton bounced back from its defeat, however, with a solid 15-9 victory over Whittier College. With the Tigers holding a respectable — but by no means solid — 7-5 lead by halftime, impressive offensive play and 15 saves from Mitrovic eventually helped Princeton attain a decisive victory. On the scoring end, sophomore utility Ryan Wilson and sophomore driver Michael Swart led the way, scoring four and three goals, respectively.
Unfortunately, the Tigers would suffer two tough losses in their final matches of the tournament against the University of California Davis and the United States Air Force Academy.
The Tigers and Tritons were tied at 7-7 in the middle of the third quarter. This time, however, it would be UC Davis who would go on an improbable 5-goal run, opening the score to 12-7. Princeton was unable to respond, though they would score two more goals. Princeton would concede the match 13-9 to the Tritons.
Princeton’s final match of the tournament would be against Air Force, which they would fall to 11-10. Despite 14 saves from Mitrovic, the Tigers found themselves playing catch-up to the Falcons for much of the game. An impressive first-half showing from Air Force gave them a seemingly insurmountable 7-3 lead by halftime. Princeton clawed back to an 8-8 tie, but when the Falcons responded with another 3 goal run, the Tigers were overwhelmed. It is a testament to the fighting spirit of Princeton that they were able to score two more goals to bring the score to within one goal.
While the weekend’s showings may not have been what the Tigers were hoping for, the closeness of the matches and the ability of the team to fight its way back from tough deficits amply demonstrated the team’s quality of play and fighting spirit. Princeton remains unfazed from its losses: Swart notes that “playing high level games, of which our schedule has no shortage, has been really helpful in the overall improvement of the team's play.” This will prove important in more critical matches. Princeton’s next match will be Sept. 28 against St. Francis Brooklyn in the Denunzio Pool.Read More
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